


Worst Night Ever

by downlookingup



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-16 12:16:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8102113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/downlookingup/pseuds/downlookingup
Summary: Brienne has a shitty time at Aunt Genna's birthday party.Written for Jaime & Brienne Appreciation Week 2016.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is an continuation of a [drabble](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7402855/chapters/16895247) I wrote a few months ago. My intention was to post one of these every day this week, but disaster struck ([really!](https://www.engadget.com/2016/09/23/the-big-picture-puerto-rico-blackout/)) and I ran out of time. Hope you enjoy this one nonetheless.

The dinner party was an absolute disaster. Brienne had known she would have to put up with some amount of awkwardness, like questions about how she and Jaime had started their non-existent relationship, for which she’d already rehearsed answers, but she hadn’t been prepared for all the staring. As soon as she and Jaime had walked into the parlor hand in hand, an uneasy silence had descended upon the small crowd of richly dressed Lannisters. Jaime had squeezed her hand, perhaps in sympathy, before tugging her into the first batch of relatives.

Once the five-course meal had begun, the silence had shifted into a somewhat normal level of conversation, but the staring hadn’t let up. There was nothing quite like being looked at like a sideshow attraction to erode what little confidence she’d gained from wearing a nice dress that suited her for a change. It was a sleeveless shift dress with a pretty blue and white print that reminded her of her parents’ wedding china. It was cheaply made and too short, though, and she looked shabby next to everyone else’s designer cocktail dresses and bespoke suits.

After dinner, Jaime was pulled into a game of poker by his brother Tyrion and some cousins, and Brienne folded herself into a corner armchair with a glass of soda, trying to make herself invisible. Once again, she mentally kicked herself for agreeing to Jaime’s ridiculous plan.

He’d said he’d been using a fake girlfriend to get out of various family events for months, but his Aunt Genna wouldn’t let him beg off any longer. “Come with me to her birthday party,” he’d said, “and next week, I’ll tell them we broke up and that’ll be that.”

She’d tried to say no, but Jaime had done so much for her since they’d become friends, from helping her move to her new dorm to shooing off a gang of drunken frat boys bent on following her home, she hadn’t had the heart to refuse him. _It’s just one night,_ she’d thought.

_And what a night it is._

Brienne took a sip from her soda and chanced another look around the room. Cersei, Jaime’s step-sister, was staring at her from across the room, where she stood with Robert, her boyfriend. When their eyes met, Cersei gave her an amused smile. Brienne looked away in a hurry.

The first time she and Cersei met had been at a post-finals bash at the Baratheon mansion. Jaime had dragged her there, insisting that she needed to unwind after so much studying. Jaime had introduced her to his step-sister, who had taken one drunken look at her and shouted over the music: “ _You look like a man!_ ” After that, Brienne had taken care to avoid her.

To her horror, Cersei was making her way to her with two glasses of wine in her hands. She thrust one under Brienne’s nose.

“I don’t drink,” Brienne said.

Cersei clicked her tongue. “If you’re going to be a Lannister, you better start.”

Brienne felt her face heat up. “I’m not—“

“You’re not marrying my brother?”

She couldn’t hold back a scoff of disbelief. “Of course not. We’re still in college!”

“So? My mother married her first husband when she was nineteen. She had me at twenty-one.” Cersei shrugged. “Getting married young isn’t a bad thing.”

“No, but I want to get my degree first and have a career. I don’t want someone else to support me.”

Cersei tossed her head back and laughed. “Are you trying to tell me you’re not dating my brother for his money?”

“You mean, like you’re dating Robert for his?” Jaime asked. He’d appeared out of nowhere, and Brienne let out a sigh of relief. She didn’t want to face Cersei’s scrutiny by herself.

Cersei turned around to face him, her green eyes wide. “What did you say?”

“You’re not actually in love with him, are you, Cers?”

“That’s none of your business,” she hissed. “Not anymore, _brother_.”

Jaime grabbed Brienne’s arm and pulled her to her feet. “And neither’s my relationship with Brienne.” He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Brienne’s neck. The feeling of his warm lips made her shiver. “We’re very happy, aren’t we, sweetling?”

Brienne couldn’t find her voice. She merely nodded.

Cersei scowled. “I’m glad to hear that. Robert and I are very happy too. In fact…” She put the glasses of wine down on a sideboard and pulled her clutch purse from under her arm. She stuck her hand inside, pulled something out, and held her hand out to them. It was a silver ring with a very large pear-shaped diamond surrounded by a half-dozen smaller round diamonds.

Brienne felt Jaime tense up next to her. Cersei noticed too and smiled in triumph. “Might as well let everyone know,” she said, slipping the ring on her finger and turning around. She rushed to Robert and pulled him to the center of the room.

“Can I have everyone’s attention please?” she called.

Jaime sighed. “Seven hells.”

Cersei beamed at the gathered crowd. “I know it’s Aunt Genna’s birthday, but Robert and I couldn’t wait to share the news.”

Robert looked less than amused at the surprise announcement, but said nothing.

Cersei paused for dramatic effect before raising her left hand, the ring facing forward. “We’re getting married!”

If Brienne had thought the silence that greeted her when she arrived had been awkward, this one was almost physically painful. Cersei waited, her smile wavering ever so slightly, and then, a shriek broke the silence, and a pair of blonde girls surged forward, grabbing Cersei’s hand. Someone began clapping softly and the applause spread through the room until the previous tense seconds were all but forgotten.

Brienne caught sight of Tywin Lannister, his face red, whispering furiously with a frowning Genna until Genna rearranged her features into a pleasant smile and went to congratulate the future bride.

Jaime grabbed Brienne’s hand suddenly. “Let’s get out of here before my father has a stroke,” he said.

Brienne couldn’t argue. They slipped out of the room quietly, took their coats from the butler, and left.

It was late. The buses ran infrequently at that time of night, and roaming taxis were rare this far into the suburbs. Brienne suggested call a cab, but Jaime wanted to walk. He shoved his hands into his pockets and moved with dogged determination.

Brienne knew about his _unconventional_ relationship with his step-sister. They’d fooled around in high school, but it had stopped after they’d gone to college. Jaime claimed to be over her, but Brienne saw how he watched Cersei and Robert sometimes. Perhaps it wasn’t jealousy, but it was something akin to it, like nostalgic possessiveness or a warped sense of protection.

As they walked down the quiet sidewalk, it dawned on Brienne that it explained his stupid idea of making up a girlfriend: he simply didn’t want to go alone where Cersei and Robert went together. A queasy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.

“You used me,” she said.

Jaime stopped in his tracks. “What?”

“You just wanted to make your sister jealous.”

“ _Step-sister_. I didn’t.”

“Did you know about the engagement?”

His jaw tensed. He looked away. “I knew he’d bought a ring, but I didn’t know he’d asked her already.”

There it was. He’d tricked her into pretending to be his girlfriend so his ex wouldn’t think he was pathetic for being single. Brienne couldn’t understand why the revelation made her want to throw up. Whether it was to make Cersei jealous or to save face with his Aunt, his reasons shouldn’t have mattered.

Except, somehow, they did.

_Is it… Gods._

Could it be disappointment?

For four years, they’d been almost constant companions. From their confrontational first meeting on Freshman Orientation Day and their few volatile classes together, they’d seen each other on an almost daily basis. Brienne knew that Jaime Lannister was one of the most handsome people she’d ever met, that he was smarter than most people gave him credit for, and that she could have hours-long conversations with him about everything and nothing. But none of that had ever translated into an attraction. Sure, she’d admired his looks before, but it had been purely from an aesthetic standpoint, like looking at a marble statue. And yet…

Hadn’t her heart beat faster when he’d invited her to the party? Hadn’t she dreamt of him on her knees in front of her the night before? He hadn’t exactly been proposing in the dream, and she’d woken with her hand between her legs, praying her sleeping roommate hadn’t heard her from the other bed.

 _I’m in love with Jaime Lannister_. She said the words in her head as a way of trying them on, and the way her stomach flipped let her know they fit as well as her oldest pair of jeans. It was too much.

She hurried past him, trying to find her phone in her purse without dropping everything on the pavement. She would call a cab, go home, dive under her covers, and try to forget about tonight. Maybe she could still salvage their friendship.

“Brienne?” Jaime jogged to catch up with her. “Are you okay?”

“Fine. I’m just tired.” She finally grabbed her phone and yanked it out. It flew from her hand and fell on the sidewalk, screen down. “Godsdamn it!”

She picked it up and groaned. The screen had cracked into a spiderweb of minuscule glass fragments. “This is the worst night ever.”

“That sounds like an overstatement,” Jaime said.

Brienne detected a hint of hurt in his voice. She didn’t care. “Of course it does to you. You don’t understand how humiliating it was to stand there and be gawked at and whispered about like a freak.” Her anger gaining steam, she pitched her voice up, mockingly. “‘ _Look at Jaime’s girlfriend, she’s so tall and ugly and weird. I bet she’s only with him for the money._ ’”

“No one but Cersei said that.”

Brienne rolled her eyes. “They didn’t have to, Jaime. I could see it in their eyes. It’s the same look I’ve been getting since I was twelve and people couldn’t pretend I was ‘awkwardly cute’ anymore.”

Jaime smirked in a way that made her heart frustratingly skip a beat. “You’re still awkwardly cute.”

She frowned. “And for what? So you could make _her_ jealous?”

“That’s not what it was about!” Jaime grabbed her phone from her hand and stuffed it in his coat so he could take both her hands. “The truth is I didn’t want to be alone at the party. You’re pretty much the only person I can stand talking with for hours on end.”

His hands were almost hot against her skin. She wanted to tear her hands away and hold his tighter at the same time. “What about Tyrion?”

“Tyrion’s cool, but he’s still just a kid. It’s different with you. Brienne, I…” He looked down at their clasped hands. His cheeks were pink, and Brienne’s heart skipped. Jaime Lannister never felt embarrassed. _Ever_.

Before she could ask him to finish his sentence, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. Brienne was frozen in place. She had only a moment to marvel at his soft his lips were and how golden his eyelashes looked up close before he pulled away, a sheepish look on his face.

“I’ve wanted to do that all night.”

Brienne gulped. “All night?”

He bit his lip. “Your legs in that dress have been driving me crazy since I picked you up.”

“You like my legs?”

Jaime smiled broadly. “ _Like_ them? I fucking love them.”

It was her turn to surprise him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him firmly, boldly, not caring if he thought she was too tall or too plain or too forward. He put his hands on her waist and held her tightly against his warm body.

They finally broke apart to catch their breath. “I think I’ll take you home and show you how much I like your legs,” Jaime said. His hand dropped from her waist to graze her thigh above her knee. The slight touch made Brienne feel as though the whole world’s temperature had gone up ten degrees. “What do you say?”

“I say, take me home, Jaime Lannister.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to ikkiM, JustAGirl24, DanyelN, coolhandjennie, EaBo, alwaysthefangirl, Ophy, Angelic666, and glamaphonic for requesting this one!


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